Thank You ~ Shop ~ Come Back Soon...

Thank you for visiting the BOC Bloggers Open Studio Event and for spending some time here with us!

Chloe learning how to take pictures with her  iPhone (Dave's very old phone).

I enjoy visiting & interacting with you all and seeing other artists studios…

We should be doing another one in October 2011 and will hopefully have more artists participating again. And I'll have new pieces like these nests readily available (before then for sure!)

And I have plans for working on felting to combine with shards…

Lots to figure out! Let's not even touch on how bad I want to order MissFickleMedia's patinas and tutorial…

For every item you buy through the Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop until Midnight EST tonight, you get a chance at winning up to three $25 Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop Gift Certificates. I will email you tomorrow to let you know you've won. Curious to see how good your chances are for winning? Check out the sold items and see how many have sold today… 

Chances will be numbered by the order that they appear in my sold (first sold = #1, second = #2, and so on).

Have fun shopping!

Oh, and follow this blog to get updates regularly or just stop back to see I'm getting into.

Like what my friend Kelly Russell of Beadfuddled and I do with these and more pieces like them…

Pre-firing and Post-Firing Porcelain Paper Clay Pieces.

Thanks for spending your Sunday afternoon with us!

Remember to comment on the BOC main blog post for your chance at winning the big lot of donated beads! And don't forget to see both the live and static blog post links for all the artists participating!

Spring Is Arriving Around Here...

Congrats Rosalynn for winning my Second Giveaway! (email me your shipping address).

I love that we live in Delaware, situated right in the nook and cranny of the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern United States. Not thrilled about the air quality and a few other things, but at least we experience fully all four seasons...

My 2011 Winter Garden (above) is no longer covered in white.

Small tips of green and purple are poking through the soil...

Soon my main side-hill garden will look like this (deer included).

The Dark Eyed Juncos that visited with us all winter will head north. 

These decaying seed husks will be cut back and replaced by new growth…

Speaking of new growth - this blog is about to grow some new appendages.

I will be making posts about my garden and helping to educate anyone that wants to learn a bit more about gardening as I am going through my Master Gardeners training from now through summer (one of the major life changing things going on for me).

 I am excited to see if any of the seeds from this spent cone flower will produce any new plants this year.

I added about 6 varieties of cone flowers to my garden last year.
Most scattered in the garden bed along the front walk where that annual brown grass is.
It is going to be fun to see how this photo will change this year.

And to use my images for new work.

Not just pendant related...

This is a photo of the little gray barn that sits vacant now for years here in Hockessin.

I looked into renting it before the economy went into the dump.

$16 a square foot at the time. No thanks. Not going to happen...

And this place - an old farmhouse and garden nursery - vacant for years.

Walking distance from my house.

Itching to become an artists studio - don't you think?

Maybe "captain tight pants" could help out there…

I was so delighted to see this in the Southwest Airlines Flight Magazine last April, I had to get a picture!

Oh, Mal… (Sorry for the detour from clay beads - would love to see Firefly take off again!)

And I think it would be awesome if someone as cool as Nathan could invest in a project like this artists studio. 

Just throwing it out there…

Ok - time to go back to Beads-of-Clay to check out other artists posts.

Stop back here for a closing from me.

And remember my clay pieces are marked down 20% on sale in my etsy shop.

My FB fans have an extra code to use (click like on my page and you are welcome to use it too).

And all items purchased through my Etsy shop through midnight get you entered to win a chance for up to 3 $25 MNS Etsy shop gift certificates!

As of 3pm - only 1 item sold, so it's like easy money if you buy something…

See you soon!

2nd Giveaway

Here is a photo of my Line Curls Textured Large Square Porcelain Pendant in Autumn glaze (photo is slightly darker than piece - at least on my screen). I almost kept this piece for myself, but then realized I had to have something beautiful to give away for this event...

This will be shipped to one lucky commenter on this blog. 

I will announce the winner in the comments at 3:30 EST.

Hopefully I will be able to find your email through your name on the comments so I can email you for your address. Make sure to check back to see if you win...

Welcome to the Artists Studio - BOC Open Studio Event

Congrats Michelle Mach for winning my first giveaway!!(email me your address).

Thanks everyone for stopping back - Welcome into my studio space.

For my clay work, I use a lot of porcelain and handmade texture plates and stamps to get reverse images and raised textures.

I then use readily available cookie cutters (kitchen supply stores, polymer clay suppliers) and a few home made ones to cut out the pieces.
One day soon I hope to have some custom shape cutters made - just have to get them drawn out to scale.

I love the way the glazes interact with the surface of the clay & how translucent glazes show the texture.
All of my porcelain pendants are glazed on all sides.

Sticking to this level of creation and glazing means I have to suspend every piece for the glaze firing and not just lay it on a shelf.
Buttons and cabochons are an exception because they are only glazed on the top. It can take hours to load a kiln like this and if you check out my Etsy shop, you can see that my pricing reflects this.

It is not the material cost (clay is as cheap as - well - dirt - very nice, wet, easy to work with mud/clay/dirt), but the amount of time that goes into working with the clay.
My pieces have over 20 steps from start to finish. Not including the jewelry making part.

Multi function tables in the basement for clay and glaze work.

I work out of my house.
Technically all over the house & sometimes I bring the clay outside into the garden with me depending on the time of the year. For the most part, the "main" clay studio is kept to the basement (except for the pug mill for recycling clay - that is in the garage for ventilation and access to the hose and lots of space to move).

My glazes to be tested are stacked & Chloe's under-glazed beads mid-painting.

Bins with beads sorted by texture.

Reusing trays that I had for bead shows to hold bisque beads that are lesser made.

Kiln room is behind a lockable door and is vented to the exterior of the house.

My sister Teren and Chloe were making signs for Chloe & Riley's bedroom doors the other night. 

I jokingly said that I would like one that says STOP on it for my kiln room door. 

This is what they made...

At least the kids will stop to look or pick at the foam stickers.

Computer desk, packaging area in background - a work in progress.

Temporary Jewelry Making Table - nice to have a place to leave stuff out.

Some recent jewelry making adventures.

I find my inspiration in Nature. 

In Textures. In Colors. In Shapes. In Patterns.

I take lots of pictures with my iPhone…

But then there are moments that require more detail - like from my digital SLR that I am just learning to use:

I am trying to find balance in every day.
And take my time to notice all that is around me…

Right now I am in the middle of some major life changes.
I know when I look back years from now, I will know that this time - right now - as a point when my decisions took me down that different road.
Wonder what my life will look like?
Will I still be working in clay (I sure hope so - but beads only? Probably not).

Hop back over to the Beads-of-Clay Blog to check out the other live posts and I'll see you back here for the 2nd giveaway post in a bit...

1st Giveaway

Here is a photo of my Flower Textured Large Round Porcelain Pendant in Twilight glaze that will be shipped to one lucky commenter on this blog. This is the flower design that I used to draw with my Grandma Neal on notebook pages when I was very young.

I will announce the winner in the comments at 2:15 EST.

Hopefully I will be able to find your email through your name on the comments so I can email you for your address. Make sure to check back to see if you win...

Hi. I'm Marsha...

Just incase you don't know me…

Hi. I'm Marsha.
Welcome to my blog.
This post is part of the the Beads-of-Clay Bloggers Open Studio.

I've been involved with Beads of Clay since the very beginning back in 2004.

I write a couple of posts a month on the BOC blog & help organize these Open Studio Events.

My business is Marsha Neal Studio, LLC (yes - an actual LLC - legal protection you know!?)

I have an Etsy Shop (clay items are marked on sale 20% off for this event).
As part of this event, for every item you purchase in my Etsy shop until midnight tonight, you get a chance at winning 3 bonus drawing to win a $25 Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop Gift Certificate.
Yes, there will be three $25 gift certificate drawings - I'll email the winners on Monday.
Every item you buy is a chance to win. Buy 3 items, get 3 chances.
I also have a website where you can order a specific porcelain textured pendant or individual silk strand.

I'm Married to a pretty cool guy - Dave. We met in 1996.
He is actually pretty funny too - in a wise-guy - cracks me up when he is on a roll-kind of way.

We've got two kids: Chloe, 3 and Riley, 1.
Our life is quite entertaining...

I won't bore you with too much "history" about me here because I have an "about me" page on this blog.

Basically I'm into my family, nature (flora & fauna) and working with clay.

Lepidoptera in Flight taken by Marsha Summer 2010

Did I mention my obsession with photography too.
I'm quite fond of this next picture of a coneflower from my garden in decay over the winter...

Coneflower in Decay, copyright Marsha Neal Studio

This year, my word that best describes my motives is Enhance.

Marsha Neal Studio Drawing Lab Cat Drawing (copyright MNS)

I am basically stepping back into educating myself in drawing (drawing lab 2011), photography, and nature (Master Gardener Trainee).

Cat drawing transformed into decal image on my beads.

I am trying to organize my studio and my life in a way that will lead me to find that feeling of balance in every day. Refocusing on my basic skills and inspirations to see where I am going with my artwork...

I've joined a few teams on Etsy: Beads of Clay, Etsy Mud Team, and have become the Captain of the Delaware Etsy Street Team. I feel more complete (and maybe a little overwhelmed at times) to be involved in community efforts and interacting more with like minded artists.

So as you can see - there is a lot going on with me and my studio…
Stop back in a bit for the first giveaway after visiting more BOC Bloggers.

Beads of Clay Spring Open Studio

It is almost time…

At 1pm EST the live event will begin!

Visit the Beads-of-Clay Blog to see the two lists of Static Posts and Live Posts

This collection of Artist-Made ceramic clay beads is the giveaway for one commenter on the main Beads-of-Clay Blog Live Post.

You just have to comment about this event on that post, and you will be entered to win.

Then check out all the posts - both Static and Live - and comment on the artist specified giveaway posts to have a chance at winning even more beads.

Shop the artists Etsy Shops and Websites as well for handmade clay beads (very possibly on sale as well)…

See you back here on my blog at 1pm for the start of the Live posts!

Oh, and for some reason, when I woke up this morning I thought about another giveaway to run for this event here on my blog for my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop:
I'm going to be giving away 3 - $25 gift certificates for my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop.
For every item you buy between now and midnight tonight, you will get a chance (1 item =1 chance, 4 items = 4 chances, etc) to win that gift certificate. Winners will be emailed on Monday morning.
All clay pieces are currently marked at 20% off.
If you are one of my FaceBook fans, there is an additional coupon code over on my FB page that you can use on your order for an additional 10% off (hmmm - all these extras…)

Have fun shopping!!!

Preparations For BOC Open Studio

Things are underway for a lot of Beads of Clay artists that are going to be participating in this Sunday's BOC Bloggers Open Studio Event. There will be a Live Blogging event from 1-4pm EST and a Static Post Event which will have a separate post to make blog cruising a lot easier during that 3 hour window.

These are my "giveaway" pendants for the Sunday Live Event on the Marsha Neal Studio Blog.

If you have never heard of this event, you may be wondering:

What is this event?

Why have Live and Static posts?

And do I qualify to participate?

What do I do?

Here are some answers:

1. The BOC Bloggers Open Studio event is a way that artists in our group can "get together" through our blogs and open them up to visitors. A blogging art loop of sorts where you get to visit artists in their creative space, all over the world through the windows of their blog.

2. Live posts provide us all with the interaction of being together at one time in one place. It's quite fun! The Static posts allow artists that have other commitments or limitations within technology, to participate in the Open Studio Event.

3. Anyone can visit the Open Studio Event and make comments on individual artists blogs for a chance at winning the "giveaway beads". If you are an BOC artist and want to participate, click here.

4. There will be a schedule of events listed for the live event on the Main Beads of Clay Blog on Sunday, March 6, 2011. Click on over there and take a look at both posts for the Static and Live events to see what artists are joining up. 

• Then at 1pm EST, come on over to start visiting the Live event artists blogs to start the tour. 
• Make comments on the appropriate posts (they will be labeled 1st and 2nd giveaways) during the 1/2 hour windows.
• Enjoy the time you have to spend with all the BOC artists live on their blogs.

Remember, all artists were asked to participate in giveaways and sales in their Etsy Shops or Websites on their clay work, so check out all the Static and Live posts for both.

When all is done, come back to the main Beads of Clay Live Event Post and leave a comment there for your chance to win a large group of beads donated by Beads of Clay artists.

Hope to see you at the Beads of Clay Blog on Sunday!

Thanks For Visiting, Here Is A Treat For You...

Thank you for stopping by and hanging out for a bit during this 2nd Annual Fall Beads-of-Clay Bloggers Open Studio Event. Please leave any comments about how to improve this for next year and we'll see if we can work the suggestions into our layout.

I would like to share with you some of our annual fall traditions…

I have a friend Natalie that has a small farm down the road from us. For the last three years we have gone there to get our pumpkins for Halloween along with some small gourds & pumpkins, corn stalks, mums, and veggies…

Here are some pics of our trip last weekend:

Riley's first glimpse at the pumpkins in the field… Think he likes it?

Riley teething on the pumpkin stem & Chloe wondering if she needs to tell him not to do that.. you know - like all big sisters should...

Hanging out with friends is fun - especially with Lincoln the dog!

The family picture in the pumpkin field...

Chloe pretending to drive the gator. Riley - hold on buddy!

Chloe and Natalie (my favorite picture!)

Watch out Dad… Riley is going to get that old tractor into gear!

Chloe lined up the gourds when we got home… She likes organization too! Notice I used this as my banner???


And now for the Sweet Treat:
A dessert recipe that Dave's Grandmom used to make and now he and Chloe enjoy making it. I help out with beating the egg whites to a peak...

Grandmom Zambino was an amazing Italian Grandmom…
And she always had her eyes out for dessert recipes to try out (a woman after my own heart) so this probably appeared on the back of a box somewhere…

Graham Cracker Pie (makes 4 pies - Hey, we're Italian… gotta feed everyone!)

Pie Crust:

4 cups of crushed graham cracker (comes in a box now)

4 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp cornstarch

2 cups butter softened

4 tsp brown sugar (white sugar can be used as well)

Bottom of Pie Filling:

8 tbs corn starch

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

8 cups of scalded milk (do not burn)

12 egg yolks beaten

4 tsp vanilla extract

Top of Pie Filling (meringue):

12 egg whites

1 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Make pie crust first: mix ingredients in a large bowl, then press into pie plates. Make sure to leave some extra for putting on top of the pie (see picture below - we like a lot of extra for on top ;)

2. Bottom of Pie Filling: Mix thoroughtly the corn starch, sugar and salt.  Slowly add to hot milk stirring contantly until mixture thickens (Best to use a double boiler - or pots rigged up as a double boiler since it will be 4 pies worth).  When you think it is thick enough, blend a little (approx 1/2 c ) of this mixture with the egg yolks.  Mix and put back in pan, stir & cool until eggs get set (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla and pour into cracker crust. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. Meringue (Top of Pie Filling): Make meringue from the egg whites. Beat egg whites (make sure there is no yellow yolk or else it will not beat up.  Beat til stiff and slowly add the sugar. Layer this on top of pie filling already in pan, then sprinkle with extra pie crust crumbles. Then place back in oven for about 5 mins or until you can see it browning around the edges.

…When done promptly call all of your siblings, friends, neighbors or extended family and tell them that you made four three Graham Cracker Pies and whoever gets there first gets to have some…

THANK YOU so very much for stopping by this Beads of Clay Bloggers Open Studio Event and for making such great comments.

Without a community like this to be a part of, something would seem like it was missing in life… (for me I know this to be true - I treasure the friends I've made here online!)

I hope that we continue to have interest in this event and maybe pick up doing it maybe again in the spring and then next fall…

We may also throw around the idea to have a stagnant listing of inlinkz for those members of BOC that can't be here live and another for those of us that can.

Life is crazy, things come up - And don't we all know it!

Please remember to stop by the BOC blog and make your comment on the main blog post for a chance at winning more beads - until midnight tonight…

Also, support the artists by purchasing items from their Etsy shops and by telling your friends and family about Beads-of-Clay…

My 30% off sale is going on until Midnight on Monday, October 25…

MarshaNealStudio.Etsy.com

MarshaNealStudio.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF MY WORK!!!
I will be uploading more work to my Etsy shop tonight after the kids go to bed and tomorrow during the day… So check back often!